Downtown Sarasota Condos

Land sold for condos, shops
A $35 million complex will replace law offices in Sarasota's Burns Court

By KEVIN MCQUAID
kevin.mcquaid@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA -- The Safety Harbor-based developer that revamped the Paradise Plaza shopping center has bought the longtime offices of Kirk Pinkerton PA and is planning a $35 million complex of residences and retail.

Paradise Communities' $4.8 million deal for the law firm's offices at 720 S. Orange Ave., in the Burns Court area, is the latest sign of growing interest in property outside Sarasota's downtown core.

There are more than 400 condominiums under construction or planned in the city's central business district, where condo development has exploded in the past two years.

Paradise Communities, which acquired the 1.25-acre, Burns Court property Monday, is planning 26 residences above 12,000 square feet of retail space.

"It's the best parcel in Burns Court," said Mike McCanless, a development partner in Paradise Communities, a subsidiary of Paradise Development Group Inc..

The property, which contains a two-story, 10,000- square-foot building completed in 1972 and a 3,000-square-foot house, is zoned "Downtown Edge" under the city's new downtown zoning code. Under that zoning, developers can build up to five stories.

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